This newly opened park is absolutely great for a morning walk with a good friend, reconnecting with nature, listening to an astonishing variety of birds, and meeting the local species (like squirrels and monkeys).

Flora at the entrance.

The trails are well marked and covered. After some time they merge into forest paths.

Two generations walking hand in hand. My good friend Roop is good at taking good photos.

Embracing forest colours.

Let there be light.

Meeting Masters of the Forest. We were forced to share our fruit breakfast.

Is some 400 parks small? Or 150 km of park connectors? Or incredible variety of cultures, peoples, architectural styles, and cuisines?

Geography is not a destiny. It’s an opportunity to look deep, and not just wide.

In this regard, Singapore’s Chinatown is incredible. Pardon – Singcredible.

What is special about UOB Plaza in Raffles Place?

There is a historical Moulana Mohamed Ali Mosque in the basement of the Plaza, right in the Central Business District.

The Mosque adjoins the Market street which hosted a fish market – Singapore’s first market – and many double storey shophouses inhabited mostly by moneylenders. Two of such shophouses were purchased by concerned residents to serve as place of worship in the middle of the fast-growing trading district.

In 1982 UOB (United Overseas Bank) reached an agreement to exchange these two shophouses for the present site underground.

I walked by several times but never noticed the Mosque until a fantastic walking tour organized by a professor of design & architecture at NUS.

What is the relationship between Samsung, sugar cane, and Lee Kuan Yew?

Samsung C&T office at the crossing of Church and Telok Ayer streets used to be a site of the “Heap Eng Moh Steamship Co Ltd.,” a shipping company owned by a Chinese Indonesian tycoon Oei Tiong Ham known as “sugar king.” The company was part of Oei Tiong Ham’s business empire formed largely through acquiring sugar factories in Java.

Amoy street in Chinatown was presumably named after the early Hokkien immigrants who arrived from Amoy, a port in Fujian Province, China.

Since the seafront was close then (the parallel Telok Ayer street was used for docking boats), Amoy had business to meet the needs of the sailors.

What did the sailors crave?

Opium and women.

Rainbow at Amoy street:

Murals in Chinatown: blending tradition and modernity:

Telok Ayer street in Chinatown breathes with history.

One of the hidden gems is a blue building which hosts the Musical Box Museum. Originally this place, known as “Chong-Wen Ge,” was the first education institution set up by the Chinese community in Singapore. It is located next to Thian Hock Keng, Singapore’s oldest Chinese temple.

Built in the 1970s, People’s Park Complex represents two architectural styles: Asian modernism and British brutalism. It consists of two parts: a lower podium of shopping space and a residential complex above. The former is famous for the shared public area at the rooftop carpark; the latter is infamous for frequent lift breakdowns.

In front of the Bloomberg Tradebook broker agency at the crossing of Telok Ayer and Church streets there is a fountain. The fountain is at the opposite end of the line which leads to the Boat Quay nearby. The energy which emanates from the waters of the Boat Quay is thus transferred to the fountain to ensure better trading.

Old and new, traditional and modern, past and present co-exist, intermingle, and inter-penetrate in Singapore.

Yueh Hai Ching, Singapore’s oldest Teochew temple, is located in the heart of the Central Business District. Built in the 1850s, the temple was developed out of a shrine set up by Chinese sailors and merchants to gratify Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea.

Gods and business live side by side:

It feels like flying on top of the Pinnacle residential complex (50th storey) close to Chinatown:

The previous night a local girl advised me to visit Vườn Hoa Bách Hợp. I call it “The Flower Garden”. So this is where I went during my last day in Hanoi.

At the entrance of the garden. a local guy tried ripping me off asking 50 000 for a ticket. I asked him to give me the ticket first. As I expected, he didn’t have any; apparently, he wanted to earn cash on a dumb tourist :). So I entered the garden for free with confidence.

Beautiful cherry blossom.

Let there be music!

A heart of flowers.

Snowhite.

Snow and blood.

Children having fun.

“I am the Queen of Vietnam!”

Wow!

Life is a colourful adventure.

After a fascinating experience at the Flower Garden, I stopped by at the Tran Quoc Pagoda at the West Lake. As I expected, it was packed with tourists. Phu Tay Ho was much better.

At the entrance of the pagoda.

Communism and religion? 🙂

Beautoful mini-altar.

Riding a motorbike through the green tunnel at Phan Dinh Phung street is a special feeling.

Ngoc Son Temple on the Hoan Kiem Lake.

The turtle preserved in the glass box in was one of the four old turtles living in the Hoan Kiem Lake. It’s more than 2 metres long, and weighs 250 kg. For Vietnamese, the turtle in Hoan Kiem Lake is holy because it is linked with the legend of King Le Loi, who returned the magic sword to the turtle deity in Hoan Kiem Lake after defeating foreign invaders. This is why the lake is called “The Lake of the Sword Returned.”

For Vietnamese, the turtle in Hoan Kiem Lake is holy because it is linked with the legend of King Le Loi, who returned the magic sword to the turtle deity in Hoan Kiem Lake after defeating foreign invaders. This is why the lake is called “The Lake of the Sword Returned.”

Game passion.

The old and the new flags of Vietnam.

The golden turtle is also depicted at the entrance of the Ngoc Son Temple. The temple is dedicated to General Tran Hung Dao (who defeated the Mongols in the 13th century), La To (patron saint of physicians) and the scholar Van Xuong.

Yes, life is about having fun!

Another “touristc” atttraction: St. Joseph Cathedral.

What’s so special about this grey buidling? Buddhist pagodas in Myanmar and Vietnam are much brighter.

Vietnamese women are like angels: they don’t have wings, but they fly on motorbikes. Men must be cautious in Vietnam – it’s easy to fall in love.

One, two, three!

Later in the afternoon I was sitting at the lake and talking to Vietnamese students. During my whole stay in Hanoi the students approached me several times asking to practice English with them.

I would go out to the Lake later at night also to have a last feel of this wonderful city. For now, it’s time to say good-bye to incredible Vietnam.